


a change is gonna come

by foolmetal



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Universe, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Season 2, Season 3 Speculation, Slow Burn, Team Bonding, Teamwork makes the dream work, all about that Mutual Love and Respect, how i might like things to go down in the future, potential spoilers?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-11-23 00:55:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11392014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foolmetal/pseuds/foolmetal
Summary: After defeating Zarkon and losing Shiro in one go, Team Voltron has to find their way to a new normal. When it's time for changes to be made, Lance just wants to help in whatever way he can. Maybe Keith wants that too.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Let's play a game called "I'm Going to Guess What Happens in Season 3," and then we'll all watch season 3 when it airs in August and realize that I got everything wrong.
> 
> This story is based off a very specific idea in my head about how the team recovers in the wake of winning the battle and losing their leader, especially focusing on how Lance and Keith come to a mutual understanding. The only thing I love more than romantic love is friendship. I hope you all have some friends to love. <3
> 
> Obviously, there are spoilers here for events in season 2. It's also based off some season 3 speculation that some might consider to be spoilery. If you are a person who likes to go into new seasons of television without even watching the trailers, you may want to turn back now.

_That noise can’t be good._  Lance thought to himself before Blue was sent careening toward the surface of the planet they were supposed to be defending.

Just for good measure, he slammed into Green on the way down.

“Lance!” Pidge yelped, surprise undercutting her anger. She and Green did a barrel roll, but they quickly recovered from the hit.  Lance watched the other lion’s disapproving face grow farther away as he descended. “What are you _doing?_ ”

“Mayday, mayday!” shrieked Lance over the wail of Blue’s alarm. He tried to pull up, but it seemed like his thrusters were jammed. “Sugar, we’re goin down!”

“Be serious!” Pidge scolded before throwing Green into a nosedive. Lance wondered if she would make it to him in time.

“Lance!” Keith demanded, butting in like the busybody he was these days. “What is going on?”

“I’ve got him! At least, I think...yep! Got him!” Hunk’s voice was followed by the screech of metal on metal as Blue collapsed onto the Yellow lion’s back. Only his armor would have been able to take such a blow. By some miracle, they stayed steady. Pidge had to slam on the brakes to keep from knocking into them, just barely.

“Hunk,” Lance gasped, hand resting over his breastplate. _Be still, my heart_. “Buddy. You’re my hero.”

“I do what I can,” Hunk responded confidently, a statement so cool that Lance pictured him sending a wink and finger guns with it. Maybe dropping into a split too. Rad.

That friendly image was interrupted from the very real sight of Keith’s face flickering to life on Blue’s dashboard. “Lance, what’s your status?”

“Uhhh...broken?” At that moment, something above him burst, and steam began hissing into the Blue lion’s cockpit. “Very, very broken.”

Keith scowled. “Pidge, Hunk, take Lance back to the surface. I’ll finish this.”

“No!” Lance was quick to respond. “That’s a terrible idea. Hunk can drop me off at the castle. This is a job for Team Voltron, not one reckless pilot. Even if we c-can’t form Voltron,” he stuttered over the loss, still fresh, “we can still work together to finish this.”

There was a pause, and Lance watched Keith’s eyebrows fold under the weight of his forehead, considering the advice. “Pidge?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think you can use Green’s stealth mode to sneak aboard the enemy ship?”

Lance gaped, wordless. Only KEITH could come up with two equally awful plans back-to-back. Now he wanted to bring Pidge in on the reckless self-sacrifice too? “Are you _insane?_ ”

Keith leveled a glare over the monitor. “You’re right. I can’t do this alone. Their ship is small, but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in fire power. It seems like we’ve taken down all of their fighter jets, so there’s no need to focus on an air battle. I saw the entrance to the docking bay around the back. We don’t want to risk getting struck by whatever incapacitated Blue, so Pidge will take out the Galra from the inside, and I’ll keep them distracted out here.”

 _Huh_. That was a surprisingly thought-out plan after all. Keith and strategy, who knew? But wait. “Where will Pidge land? Green won’t stay invisible forever, so it’s too risky to leave her in their hangar bay.”

No one answered.

Lance sighed, “Okay, listen. Pidge will use her cloaking ability and drop _me_ off at the dock. I’ll be the distraction. Hunk flies Blue back to the castle, Pidge uses Green’s vines to tangle their cannons, and Keith takes them out. Good guys win, innocent planet is saved, we all live happily ever after, the end.”

Pidge and Hunk were quick to voice their assent, but Keith hesitated. “And you’re sure you can handle that?”

“Psshh.” He shrugged. “Piece of cake.”

* * *

 Distracting a ship full of Galra soldiers was, in fact, _not_ a piece of cake. 

The moment Lance’s feet hit the hanger, he knew their plan had a few glaring holes. Mainly the one where a single paladin was supposed to distract _a ship full of Galra soldiers._

 _Be cool, Lance_ , he coached himself. _You’ve got this._

He crept along the wreckage of what used to be a fighter jet. The wings were torn clean off and its nose was hanging by a handful of wires. It looked beyond repair to Lance, but hey, the Galra did have some pretty advanced technology.

Two Galra pilots crouched beneath the undercarriage of a different jet, arguing about something or other. _Even the ultra-disciplined Galra Empire has team-building issues_ , he noted. It made him think of Keith and what an annoying jerk he’d be if Lance screwed this up. _Stop it, Lance. Focus._

Right now, he had three options:

For one, he could try to take the pilots out. There were only two of them, and he had the element of surprise. Neither one looked like they were armed. Then again, maybe they were, in which case it could dissolve into a shoot out, and Lance _really_ didn’t need that kind of delay.

He could make a scene to get their attention. They might sound some sort of _intruder alert!_ warning, and wouldn’t that be a good diversion from the action going on outside? Or maybe they’d just seal the hangar door and trap him here.

His third and final option was to sneak past. It was the least risky choice. Plus it would give him more time to explore the ship, mess around, and hopefully find the control room.

Yeah, that’s what he was going to do.

“Stealth mode: activated,” whispered Lance to himself as quietly as possible, and he heard Pidge’s longsuffering sigh from inside his helmet.

“ _If you say it, you defeat the purpose. Amateur._ ”

 _Pft_. He didn’t need any of her sass. The inability to respond immediately was irritating, but it did give him more time to think of a witty comeback.

Lance managed to slip out of the hangar without alerting anyone. He quickly activated his bayard and began to navigate the twisting hallways that made up the enemy ship. A map would have been nice, but he figured that sooner or later, he’d run into trouble. Or trouble would run into him.

“Hey, you!”

 _Yep, that’s about right_ , Lance thought, breaking into a sprint down the hall as the soldier yelled, “Stop!”

He gave the Galra enough time to radio his buddies about the intruder aboard, just to get things rolling, before spinning around and dispatching him with a shot to the leg.

" _Everything okay in there, Lance?_ ” It was Keith this time over the comms. He actually sounded worried, and Lance didn’t know whether to feel touched or offended.

“I promised a distraction, didn’t I?” he quipped, pausing when he came to a forking path. “Hey, mullet, left or right?”

“ _What is_ that _supposed to mean?_ ”

“Just pick one!”

“ _Left!_ ” Hunk piped in distantly, like he’d reached the castle and taken off his helmet already. That was good.

“Thank you, Hunk.” _And NO thanks to you, Keith_. “It’s good to know that somebody has my- _AIEEE!_ ” Lance couldn’t help the panicked squeal that escaped as he ran into three more soldiers, and these ones were _most_ _definitely_ armed.

“ _Lance?_ ” three paladins asked at the same time, at varying levels of volume and concern, but he didn’t have time for that.

Lance shot one in the knee, and somehow with his momentum managed to skid right through the legs of the next. It was like sliding into home plate, only home plate was a third, angry Galra ready to take his head off with a laser gun. Lance used their momentary surprise to his advantage and went in to knock the butt of his rifle against a helmet, _THWACK!_ The soldier went down like a sack of bricks. _Home run!_

Before he could turn around, he felt a sharp and sudden pain in his back, jarring him from reality. He fell forward, disoriented, nearly dropping his bayard. There was a sword jutting out of his armor that hadn’t been there a moment ago, along the right side of his spine. And when the last Galra soldier stepped on his calf, holding Lance in place to retrieve his weapon, it stayed stuck.

Lance twisted his torso and fired without even bothering to look, hitting the Galra in the chestplate.

“You bring a knife to a gunfight?” he taunted weakly, “Big mistake, pal.”

It was over. The Galra didn’t say anything back, and Lance decided he should move along while they were still incapacitated. But movement became difficult as the initial sharpness of his wound grew into a burn that radiated along his side. “Aw, _quiznak_.”

“ _You’re hurt_ ,” Keith intuited. It wasn’t a question. Lance took a moment and listened to the background audio, Red and Green racing through the sky, firing their lasers, taking on damage. He didn’t mean to distract _them_.

“Well, I’m not going to tell Hunk and Coran _not_ to fire up a healing pod for when I get back. But I’ll be fine in the meantime. It’s just a scratch.” He hoped. It sure didn’t _feel_ like a scratch.

“ _On it!_ ” Hunk shouted, followed by the sound of heavy footfalls on metallic floor panels. Man, what did Lance ever do to earn a friend like him?

He continued on. One more left, another, and then he was there - the control room! The ship’s commander stood facing the window, overlooking the battle, calling the shots. Three technicians sat in front of him. They were the ones operating the cannons outside.

“Charge the EMPC!” the Galra commander ordered. _Electromagnetic pulse?_ That was probably what took down Blue and caused this mess. And now they were gunning for Keith and Pidge. Lance had to stop them. But should he go for the control board? The techs? Their commander?

 _A team is only as good as its leader, right?_ Lance thought. Then he lifted his rifle, ignoring the heat that was fogging up his helmet, and lined up the shot.

 _Bang!_ Before the Galra could fall to his knees, Lance was already aiming for the ceiling. He fired three consecutive blasts, and three pipes burst, flooding the room with gas and some kind of foreign liquid. _Ha-ha! Consider this ship thoroughly distracted_.

“Go for the cannons now!”

For the second time in half as many hours, Lance heard the blare of an alarm system, and as the Galra technicians stumbled over each other in a panic without anyone to direct them, he turned tail and hobbled back down the halls as fast as he could.

Lance hoped that the halls made a complete circle because he really didn’t want to face any of the soldiers he’d already dealt with. Not to mention, he was going to have to figure out how to handle the pilots on the flight deck too.

“Man, I really fudged up,” he panted, sweat beading over his brows and running into his eyes. “Dammit.”

“ _What do you mean?_ ” Pidge asked. Her voice was lifted, brimming with excitement. “ _We won!_ ”

“That’s great. It’s just...I, uh, didn’t form an exit plan.” A soldier from earlier, the one he shot in the knee, came crawling around the corner. Lance barely dodged a blast aimed at his shoulder before he could return fire. “I don’t know how long I can keep this up.”

“ _I’ll get you_ ,” grunted Keith. “ _Just make it to the hangar. I’ll clear the deck._ ”

“Sure thing. Easy peasy. I’ll just wander around until I bleed out, no biggy.” All he got in response was a hitch in the red paladin’s breathing and the gravelly rumbling of his lion. “Relax, man. I was joking. It’s not a huge ship. I’ll figure it out.”

“ _Not funny_.”

* * *

 No more than fifteen minutes later, Lance was being dragged into the cockpit of the Red lion. Literally _dragged_ , with his arms flung over both of Keith’s shoulders, chest to back.

“Slow down,” he cried miserably. In that flicker of a moment, he felt ashamed of his weakness, but oh, it _burned_. “My side, please. Just let me go. I’ll walk on my own.”

“Shut up,” spat Keith before he dumped Lance to the floor. Not literally _dumped_. Thankfully, Keith was actually very careful of the sword still protruding from Lance’s armor.

The short trip back to the castle was spent in silence, Keith pushing Red forward. Faster, faster still. Lance didn’t get motion sick - that was usually Hunk’s job - but he felt the nausea creep into his throat, his eyes rolling back into his head. During that handful of minutes, dobashes, whatever, he couldn’t even bring his arms up to take off his helmet.

Lance came to in the medbay, not remembering how he got there. His knees were on the floor. His helmet was off, clammy forehead was pressed to Keith’s armor, right below the boy’s throat. And, oh yeah, Coran was pulling the sword from his-

“YE _OW!_ ” Tears sprang to his eyes in an instant, as if they’d never been dry. “ _Son_ _of a-_ ow, ow, _ow_! Coran!”

Coran apologized mournfully, and Lance felt the pressure of someone clutching his hand as the pain flared and then subsided. _Pidge_. She ran a cool thumb over his knuckles, and weakly, he squeezed back.

Hands pried off his armor, stripping him to his body suit underneath. _Coran’s_ , Lance thought. Then Hunk’s arms were around him, lifting Lance into the healing pod.

“Thanks, guys,” he sighed. “Good game. Work hard, play hard. Go Voltron.”

“You’re unbelievable,” Pidge groused, folding her arms. “Next time, I’ll be the decoy.”

“Everyone’s a critic.” He laid his head back, waiting for the pod to close. “I thought it was a fine plan. For the most part. Better than whatever Keith came up with. Take that.”

“Lance,” Keith spoke, and Lance opened his eyes. The red paladin looked serious. Almost as serious as he’d been when he told them about Shiro’s wishes, about Keith leading Voltron and piloting the Black lion. “I wanted to ask you-”

“Too late now, I’m afraid,” Coran interrupted, and the healing pod sealed shut.

 _Too late. Sleep_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I know this chapter was fast-paced, so we'll slow it down a bit next time for a more detailed account of what's been happening with Team Voltron since the end of season 2.
> 
> This story shouldn't be terribly long. I'd like to finish it before the first episode of season 3 airs at San Diego Comic Con later this month. If not by then, certainly by August 4th. Expect the next chapter up by this Thursday (7/6)?
> 
> I'm on tumblr [here](https://volpidge.tumblr.com/). Drop me a comment here, or send me a message if you want to chat!


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the face of tough questions and tougher answers, our boys get vulnerable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter came a little later than expected. I'm not going to guesstimate when the next one will be for fear of disappointing, heh. But it'll be soon! Thanks for reading.

Lance was asleep for two whole days, and as he healed, life went on as it usually did post-battle.

To show their thanks for being freed from enslavement to the Galra Empire, the inhabitants of Endule threw a celebration that lasted for near thirty vargas, the length of their planet’s “dusk ‘til dawn.”

“I can’t believe I missed an awesome party,” Lance whined, aimlessly stirring a bowl of goo with his spoon. He needed to eat to regain his strength - at least that’s what Coran kept telling him - but he always felt a little queasy after an extended staying in the healing pod.

“Yeah, the Endulii were pretty cool,” Hunk said with a grin, patting Lance on the back as he continued to pout. The yellow paladin was leaning against the same kitchen counter that Lance sat atop. “They had these _really_ tasty noodles that just grew out of the ground! Fully cooked and everything. Pidge and I were looking into it, and we think that it has something to do with the planet’s lateral soil pressure.”

Pidge hummed in affirmation from her spot on the floor near the goo dispenser, eyes steadily fixed on the screen of her tablet. “Yup. It’s the same thing that enabled the production of those rare metals the Galra had them harvesting all these years.”

“Oh, oh, also,” Hunk added, “because the planet’s surface gets so hot, the King of Endule promised the hand of his heir to Pidge after we fixed their citadel’s cooling system.”

Lance gasped with such force, he nearly choked on his spit. “ _What?_ Pidge, I missed your space wedding?!”

“Just her space proposal,” Hunk reassured.

“I informed the king that I was not yet of marriageable age,” spoke Pidge in monotone, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose with a sniff. “By Earth standards anyway.”

“Man,” Lance sighed. “I really did miss everything. Getting injured _sucks_.”

“Hey, don’t get too down. I did bring you back a souvenir!” Hunk reached into his pocket and pulled out a smooth band of silver. It was coiled like a snake, both ends pointed. “We all got one! Well, mine is a ring, and Pidge got some kind of cuff thing that goes around your ear.”

Lance admired the ring that Hunk had on his pinky, right over his fingerless gloves. It was darker than the metal of Lance’s piece, more chrome than silver. Then, Pidge lifted her hair up to show off her cuff, copper and ridged, resting on her outer cartilage. “Endulii ears are surprisingly similar to ours. Allura was horrified.”

“I think yours is an armlet? Leglet? Eh, you can decide.” Hunk handed over the piece of jewelry, and Lance spun it around his wrist, watching as it refracted the kitchen’s fluorescent lighting. His was _definitely_ the coolest.

“What did Keith get?”

“Huh,” Hunk paused to think. “I don’t actually know.” He looked at Pidge who also shrugged. “Keith hasn’t said much since we chased the Galra ship away. But you should ask him!”

“He did seem anxious for you to wake up,” Pidge agreed. “Go find him.”

* * *

 And that’s how Lance ended up on the hunt for the red paladin. Thankfully, he was a _master_ huntsman. Agility, stealth, focus - all skills that Lance had carefully cultivated in his training to become the best pilot-slash-sharpshooter in the universe.

It also may have helped that Keith was easy prey.

They all had to adapt in the wake of Shiro’s disappearance. After the initial shock had worn off, Pidge and Allura had run themselves ragged conducting scans on the Black lion (where Shiro was) and the stars (wherever he might be).

Watching them in their desperation had been a kind of torture of its own. For Pidge, Shiro was one more name in a growing list of people she cared deeply about, lost, and was struggling to find. For Allura, he was the one she trusted most, aside from Coran. The one she believed could finally lead Voltron to victory over the Galra.

Hunk had taken over Shiro’s role as the group’s protector, making sure everyone ate proper meals and kept healthy sleep schedules. When he wasn’t feeding his friends in the kitchen, he was with Lance trying to learn more about Altean medicine from Coran, just in case of an emergency out in the field. While kindness and concern was in the yellow paladin’s nature, Lance could see how the constant worry about the team’s well-being was draining him.

And Keith did what he always did. Well, aside from declaring himself leader - that was new.

He trained. Hand-to-hand, against the gladiator, the drones. The simulator’s levels were ever-increasing as the paladins improved their skills, but Keith seemed determined to beat them all on his own, even if it left him bloody and broken at the end. And that’s where Lance found him. Because even though some things changed - they _had_ to change - others stayed the same.

Keith was sprawled out on the training deck, limbs spread like a starfish, toes pointing to the ceiling, and head tilted so far to the side that his cheek stuck to the floor. Every patch of skin uncovered by clothing was blanketed in sweat. It pooled at his collarbones, clung at his upper lip, and dripped down his lashes to the floor below. Not that Lance noticed or anything. _It’s just been a long time_ , he thought,  _since I’ve seen him so still_.

Keith’s eyes stayed closed until Lance cleared his throat.

“Oh. Hey there.”

“Hey there,” Lance parroted, watching the red paladin pull himself into a sitting position, wincing, every movement laced with a bruise. “You don’t look so good, man.”

Keith glanced down at spot of blood on his collar and raised a hand to poke gingerly at his swollen lower lip. “Thanks a lot.”

Lance snorted. “Don’t get touchy. It wasn’t an insult, just a statement. How long have you been at it? You should get out of here, clean yourself up. Let Hunk make you something to eat.”

To his surprise, Keith nodded slowly before standing. “I will. But now that you’re here, there’s something I wanted to ask you first.”

Lance’s mind went back to the fight over Endule and its aftermath. Back to watching Keith make his serious face, mouth hanging open, interrupted. It was Lance’s last memory before he went under, and for some reason, it filled him with dread. “Sure?”

“Just promise you won’t overreact.”

 _Okay, what in the hell?_ “Come on, Keith. You’re giving me anxiety, which is saying something because we _all_ know I have nerves of steel. Just spit it out.”

“I want you to pilot the Red lion.”

The world froze as Lance silently descended into a panic. His hearing must be malfunctioning. Were there some things a pod couldn’t heal? Or maybe this was some elaborate, hyper-realistic dream. Whatever the case, Keith couldn’t have actually said what Lance _thought_ he did.

“Excuse me? I don’t think I heard you correctly. You see, it sounded to me like you said I should pilot Red, but that can’t be right.”

Keith gave him a look that said, _you asked for it_. “Your hearing is fine. That’s exactly what I said.”

“Well then you must have gotten hit in the head a little too hard. Are you sure you don’t have a concussion? I’ll chaperone you to the medbay to make sure you don’t accidentally launch yourself out an airlock on the way there.”

“Lance, please,” Keith groaned. And yeah, he looked like a wreck, but his words were conscious and true. “Don’t make me regret asking.”

“I’m sorry,” he squeaked, giggling against his will like a maniac. “I’m just having a difficult time wrapping my head around this.”

“What’s so hard to understand? Shiro asked me to pilot the Black lion if anything ever happened to him. I can’t fly two lions at the same time, obviously. That’s why I’m asking you to look after Red for me.”

Keith was so blunt and unapologetic and _Keith_. Why did him asking for something have to sound so much like a command? It immediately put Lance on the defensive. He couldn’t _not_ overreact if he tried.

“I have a lion! Her name is Blue, and as you might remember, we are _very_ happy together.”

“I don’t like this anymore than you do!” yelled Keith in exasperation. “You think I _want_ to switch lions? You think I asked to be the leader? I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.”

“Clearly.”

Keith let out a heavy sigh, trying to expel his frustration with it. His fingers came up to pinch the bridge of his nose. It was a gesture that he’d so obviously adopted from Shiro, and it made Lance miss the black paladin even more. “Look, I keep catching Coran in the hangar deck trying to get Red to open for him, and it’s not working. It’s never going to work. They just aren’t compatible. But I thought maybe he or Allura might be a good fit for Blue.”

“So, what?” spat Lance. “Just because Blue chose me as her pilot, that must mean _anyone_ is good enough for her?”

It was a fear of his, buried deep at his core, the kind of idea that can’t be chased away. A nightmare sometimes. Walking up to the Blue lion, putting his hands to her maw, and getting rejected. Being replaced. Replaceable.

“No, that’s not what I mean. Blue is fluid, agreeable. And loyal. She’s like you. And you’ve seen Allura, she can shapeshift. Her body adapts to new situations. Plus she’s the Princess of the race that created the lions. It just makes sense. But Red is like me. We’re guarded and temperamental. We can’t let other people in. We don’t know how.”

And just like that, the tension released, deflating like a punctured tire. It was the sudden realization that maybe Lance wasn’t the only one who was afraid.

“Then” he wondered aloud, “...why do you think Red will let me in?”

“Because _I_ trust you,” Keith said with such sincerity that Lance had to believe him. “So will she. Your instincts are practical, and sometimes I can be...impulsive. It’s something I’ve been working on, but in the meantime, I need someone who’s not going to be afraid to call me out on my shit. I’m asking you to be my right-hand.” He flushed, either at his own choice words or the fact that he had to explain himself. “Figuratively and, uh, literally I guess. You know, when we form Voltron, Red is...you get it.”

Lance was dumbstruck. In all their time together, he never thought Keith would admit to needing anyone, let alone Lance. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say yes,” Keith pleaded, his gaze so intense that Lance had to look away. “Say you’ll do it,”

“I…” He thought of Blue, their companionship and trust, the way they communicated with ease. How worried he’d been when her systems failed over Endule. They were partners. She was a piece of him, whether or not he was the same to her. Could he be the one to break that trust so easily? Would she even let him? “I’ll have to think about it.”

“That’s...fine. Take whatever time you need.”

When Lance looked back, Keith was trying to smile at him encouragingly, but he could see the troubled look in the red paladin’s eyes. This wasn’t something Lance could dwell on for too long. He knew that he needed to make a decision and fast. Voltron was depending on the cohesion of its paladins.

And Keith was depending on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on tumblr [here](https://volpidge.tumblr.com/). Drop me a comment here, or send me a message if you want to chat!


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance admits his fears and makes an important decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little shorter than the others, but I liked where it ended. Hopefully you will too!

When Lance entered the hangar and saw Hunk standing under Blue with wrench in hand and a pensive expression, he felt immediately guilty about not checking up on his lion sooner.

“Hunk, how is my best girl doing?”

Hunk turned, his eyes widened in surprise before he started to chuckle. “For a second, I thought you were calling me your best girl. Not that I’d mind. But Blue is doing okay, I think. All things considered.”

“You _are_ the best.” Lance grinned, patting his fellow paladin on the arm. “How did you get her back up and responsive?”

“Responsive might be generous. She hasn’t made a noise since I brought her in on Yellow’s back, but systems seem to be back online. Output is looking good. You know how back on Earth we jump car batteries? Apparently, the same concept works for the lions even though they’re not exactly battery-powered. It only took, like, a day for Pidge and I to figure it all out. Allura supervised.”

Lance felt his guilt dissolve under the warmth of affection and admiration for his teammates. “Thanks, man. I really owe you one. All of you.”

He walked up to Blue and laid a hand on the cool metal of her paw. There was a rumble that he felt in his chest before it reached his ears. Two sentient creatures and two mutual feelings, relief and love. _Whoa_.

“And there she is,” Hunk sighed happily, clapping his hands twice. “I’m so glad.”

“You were just worried about me, weren’t ya?” Lance crooned, draping his body over the lion’s knuckles, pressing his cheek to the base of her leg. “We’re safe now thanks to our friends.”

“It’s really amazing,” the yellow paladin began, “how close we’ve all gotten to our lions, you know? Pidge and I tried, and we couldn’t get a peep out of her, but as soon as you’re here, she starts purring. That’s some kind of psychic bond. Can’t replicate it.”

“ _Yeah_ ,” Lance agreed weakly, suddenly sick to his stomach. “I know what you mean.”

He knew Hunk wasn’t aware of the effect those words had on Lance. He knew Keith wouldn’t have shared his plans with anyone else, as unsure as he was about what Lance’s response would be. But it still felt like a targeted attack. Here he was, contemplating the abandonment of his lion and the special bond that they’d formed. If Blue could feel his traitorous thoughts, she didn’t voice it.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Hunk was as perceptive as ever when it came to his friend’s feelings, but Lance wasn’t ready to confide in him quite yet. “Could we maybe...have a minute alone?”

“Of course,” Hunk said softly, somehow knowing not to push. “I’ll go see if Coran needs a hand with anything.”

* * *

“You know I adore you, right?” Lance asked Blue as soon as they were alone, and he could feel her pleasant hum inside his mind. “Good. Because I do. From the moment I saw you, I knew we’d make an awesome team. And not just because I wanted to show off my piloting skills.”

He sensed something akin to a laugh. Could lions laugh? Somehow, Blue conveyed the action to him through a reflection of his own amusement, a picture of Lance grinning widely, a witty retort on his lips.

“That’s what makes this so hard,” he murmured, heart clenched in his chest. “Shiro asked Keith to pilot Black if anything ever happened to him. And now Shiro’s disappeared.”

Lance felt a spiderweb of sorrow stretching outward from Blue, or perhaps inward, each thread leading to her kin, broadcasting images of distress. Pidge in the hangar after curfew tinkering with the Black lion, demanding answers, kicking its foot, cradling stubbed toes, and refusing to cry. Hunk hoisting her from the floor and dragging her away, even as she fights back. Another night, Keith sitting in Black’s cockpit with his head in his hands, unmoving.

These were glimpses of private moments that Lance didn’t think he should be seeing. But they were more vivid than any vision his lion had shown him before, and that was important.

“You understand how much we’ve been hurting,” he recognized aloud. _Yes_ . “And you’ve been hurting too.” Another _yes_.

“Keith wants me to pilot the Red lion,” he admitted, and he felt Blue remembering when they found each other, the first time she opened her mouth to let Lance in. “I know. That’s why I don’t want to. You’re one of the best things that’s ever happened to me, you know? But what if that mullet on legs is right? What if that’s the only way we can form Voltron?”

Sadness. Acceptance. Resilience. These emotions made up Blue’s response, and Lance noted the lack of the thing he had worried about most. _Betrayal._

A few ticks later, the doors to the hangar bay opened without warning, and in strode Coran decked in full battle armor. A red cape flowed out from behind him, and Lance’s eyes grew large. _So this is what Keith was talking about_.

“Right-o,” Coran proclaimed, coming to a stop in front of the Red lion. “Today is the day that man and lion become one! You are a majestic creature, and I am ready to be your hardworking, loyal paladin!”

He carried on that way for a dobash or too, oblivious to Lance’s presence until the blue paladin became too uncomfortable to let it continue.

“Uh, Coran?”

The Altean jumped nearly a foot in the air and let out a yelp. “Lance! My boy, I didn’t see you there.”

“What are you doing?”

“Well, uh,” Coran sputtered, fiddling with his mustache as his face began to pinken.  “Just doing my daily check of the lions, of course. We must be vigilant about maintaining their health in these increasingly dangerous times. Yes, right. Everything looks up to Altean standards here. My work is done.”

Lance felt bad for embarrassing Coran who had become a close companion and dutiful mentor to him in their time together. “Thanks, Coran. It’s good knowing that we can always count on you.”

The older man’s discomfort morphed into a delighted smile. “Certainly!”

“By the way, if you’re done here, I think Hunk was looking for you,” Lance added, glad to have alleviated any awkwardness between them.

Coran thanked him and made a quick exit, cape trailing behind.

* * *

 In the middle of the night, Lance found himself standing in front of Keith’s door, and before he could question the course of action, he was knocking softly on the door.

“ _Keith_ ,” he whispered, knocking again. “ _Keith, open up!”_

The doors slid open, and there was Keith looking as grumpy as Lance had ever seen him, eyes practically sunken into his face. “What time is it?”

“Uh,” Lance hesitated. “0300 vargas. Or so.”

“Why,” huffed Keith, scrubbing a hand down his face, trying to wipe away the sleep, clawing at the sockets that were devouring his eyeballs. “Just...why.”

“I’m freaking out, okay?!”

“ _Shhh_ , keep your voice down.”

“I wanted to sleep on it, “Lance said in a rush, and once the words were out, there was no stopping them. “I visited Blue. I talked with her, I thought about it, and I wanted to give it a night. You know, get a fresh perspective in the morning, the sort of thing that sensible people do. But I couldn’t do it, Keith. I couldn’t sleep, I just kept thinking, thinking.”

“Lance.”

“Thinking! About all the variables and possible outcomes. I’ve never been much of a statistician. That’s Slav’s job. And Pidge - she’s good at everything. But I’d like to think that I make informed decisions based on a good understanding of my surroundings. Clearly you think so too, otherwise we wouldn’t be in this mess. Need I remind you, this is all your-”

“Get to the point,” Keith interrupted, looking like he was two seconds away from socking Lance in the gut.

“I’m going to try to pilot the Red lion.”

“Hold on.” Keith blinked in disbelief. “You’re serious. Are you sure?”

For some reason, he thought his rival would be more excited than that. “I mean, I’m not sure of anything. But I haven’t been able to stop considering it since you asked, so it must be worth a shot.”

“I’m not going to pretend to understand that logic, but okay,” the red paladin conceded. “Let’s go.”

As Keith reached for his jacket, Lance came to the sudden realization that the boy was fully dressed in his regular clothing, right down to the boots. “Wait, weren’t you just asleep like five minutes ago?”

Keith glared at him in a way that meant, _obviously_.

“You sleep with your shoes on?”

“It’s important to be prepared!” he defended as the doors of his room closed behind him. “Even if it means sacrificing comfort.”

“You know, if this Voltron thing fails, you should become a boy scout instructor.” Keith ignored that comment, and as they walked past the door to Lance’s room, he had the audacity why the blue paladin wasn’t going to change out of his pajamas.

“Red will accept me in my lion slippers,” Lance declared, “or not at all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I only got, like, three hours of sleep last night. So if there's any glaring grammatical errors, feel free to call me out on them. They all belong to me, clumsy editor/hot mess. I'll probably take another look over this chapter when I'm more alert.
> 
> Thanks for reading and subscribing. I care a lot about this story and these characters, so it means a lot. <3


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and the Red lion have a heart-to-heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! How does one month go so fast? I hope all of you were able to watch Voltron season 3 and that you enjoyed it as much as I did! I know that I missed my goal to finish this story before it aired, but I'm still committed to finishing! After this chapter, there should be two more and perhaps a short epilogue. Thank you again to all who have read, commented, subscribed, and all that good stuff. Welcome to my space family. <3

The hangar deck was always a little creepy in the dead of night. Back in the beginning, when Coran and Allura had been running their system checks to make sure the Altean technology was still functional, they had programmed the castle ship to dim the lights during sleeping hours. But down here, the lights were motion-sensored, and it wasn’t until you were enveloped in darkness that they would slowly blink on to illuminate the lions.

After tripping twice, Lance felt the strange urge to reach out for Keith’s shoulder, but he swallowed it down. Tonight was a night for courage. He took ten measured paces forward, then five more.

The lights turned on, and Lance’s arm came up instinctively to block the brightness from his adjusting pupils.  _ Ow.  _ Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Keith do the same. 

When they both recovered from the blinding assault to their vision, they walked in weighted silence to the place where the Red lion stood. If this didn’t work, they would be back to square one, that much further away from reforming Voltron. Just that thought was a heavy burden on Lance’s heart.

He motioned for Keith to stand back and began to walk toward Red until a particle barrier was thrown up, causing Lance to lose his balance, almost falling back on his rear. 

“Whoa!” Lance said, his voice too high. He cleared his throat with a cough. “Easy girl. It’s me, Lance. The guy who was bleeding in you, like, less than 72 vargas ago. Sorry about that by the way. But since we’ve already swapped genetic material, I think we could make a great fit for each other.”

Lance knocked his fist against the protective barrier, each time with a little more strength, but it didn’t budge. He heard Keith groan behind him.

“Hey, it worked last time, didn’t it?” Lance whirled around, arms crossed, thinking back to how easily Blue had welcomed him in. He was missing her already.

“Yeah, well, Red didn’t open up for me right away,” Keith admitted begrudgingly, his own arms mirroring Lance’s defense. Or maybe he was just tired. “It wasn’t until I fought off a bunch of Galra soldiers and got sucked into space that she came after me.”

“Well, I’m not volunteering to get launched out of an airlock. Been there, done that.” Lance shuddered at the memory of the castle ship trying to pick them off one by one. “Red is crazy. This was a bad idea.”

“She’s not crazy! She just...needs you to prove yourself,” Keith said. He looked up into the Red lion’s glowing eyes, head tilted. “She respects bravery.”

Huh. Bravery. “Come on, Red. You’ve seen me in action. I just took down a Galra ship from the inside, single-handed I might add. I’ve been exploded, stabbed, brainwashed by mermaids, tied to a tree and left for dead-”

“That one was your own fault.”

“Not helping, Keith!” Lance whined, feeling his face grow warm. “I’ve been brave because...I’ve had to be. Maybe it doesn’t come naturally to me. And if that’s not good enough for Red, then  _ I’m _ not good enough.”

He stood with his palms and forehead pressed to Red’s shield for what felt like half an hour at least, trying to feel her out, but she just kept blocking him out, body and mind. And even as he tried harder to focus, Keith’s pacing in the background kept distracting him. It was only a matter of time until things blew up.

“Come on!” yelled Keith, and Lance turned around to see the boy with hands clenched into fists at his sides. “Open up! Stop being so stubborn. I’m the one who suggested this, not him. So stop shutting him out,” his voice quivered. “If Lance isn’t enough for you, then none of us are.”

“Keith...” Lance murmured, shocked not by the outburst, but at the emotion in Keith’s voice.

“Don’t you want to help us? Don’t you care about Shiro? This-” said the red paladin. He paused to breathe, his words strangled by the threat of tears, “This is how we find him. This is how we keep on defending the universe.” 

Red growled sharply, but the barrier held. She was no doubt troubled by the distress of her paladin, but it wasn’t enough to change her mind. Keith couldn’t  _ force  _ her to accept Lance if she didn’t want to.

She didn’t want to.

It hurt, Lance realized. It wasn’t as if he wanted to leave Blue and pilot another lion, really. But he certainly didn’t want Voltron to be out of commission indefinitely. He didn’t want to disappoint the team...or Keith. This boy who believed that he  _ was _ enough.

Lance stared up at Red’s formidable figure. He couldn’t blame her for not wanting lose to Keith as a pilot. He was brave and fast and just, like, so super focused and determined all of the time. The way that he fought looked so natural, but Lance knew there was no shortage of effort on Keith’s part. The training room logs proved that much. 

Sometimes...okay, _a lot_ _of the time_ , these observations were laced with bitter sort of jealousy. But other times, they stemmed from genuine admiration for his talented teammate. And to be honest, admiration was a lot less painful a pill to swallow.

Lance and Keith were different people. They had their strengths and their weaknesses. Maybe fearlessness was Keith’s thing, but that didn’t mean Lance show courage too.

“Look, Red,” he said softly, ignoring Keith’s outburst for now. “I know this has got to be hard on you too. Just when we were settling as a team, everything’s suddenly falling apart. Contrary to popular belief, I do take things seriously when it’s necessary. Very seriously.”

“We know that-” Keith started to protest, but Lance shushed him, beginning to feel Red paw curiously at his consciousness.

“When I committed to team Voltron, I was all in. Even if it meant not knowing when I was going to see my family again. When I flew Blue for the first time, I made a promise to her. To keep flying and fighting no matter what. What I’m saying is, I don’t take my promises lightly. Even though I can adapt, it doesn’t mean I  _ want  _ to. In fact, I’m terrified of what’s going to happen after this. What if you reject me, and then Blue doesn’t want me back? What if you accept me, and I can’t live up to your standards? But despite all of that, I’m still here. I have a lot of fears, but...I’m willing to face them. Isn’t that what bravery all about?”

Having said all he could, Lance fell quiet again. This was it. He raised his fist tentatively toward the barrier and knocked once more. 

The Red lion let out a thunderous roar, and Lance worried that he’d angered her. The hairs on his arms stood on end as the deck shuddered beneath his feet. Somehow, he heard Keith’s gasp over all the noise, and then. And then-

The shield fell.

In the silence that followed, Lance was filled with a satisfaction that didn’t belong entirely to him. It was coming from the Red lion. She was  _ proud _ of him. And,  _ whoa _ . Red was a lot more affectionate than he thought she’d be. Any more respect and warmth, and Lance would be bursting at the seams. 

Lance let out a joyful  _ whoop! _ and it echoed throughout the hangar. He turned excitedly back to check on Keith who was trying to smile back, but the effort was ruined by the wetness of his cheeks.

“Hey,” Lance soothed, grin quickly dropping off his face. “Keith, buddy. What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” Keith choked, swiping at his tear ducts. “It’s s-stupid. I was just w-worried that maybe this wasn’t going to work after all.”

Lance knew the feeling. He moved a few steps forward, close enough to lay a calming hand on Keith’s shoulder. “But it did.”

“I didn’t want Red to be stubborn because of me. I really did want you to pilot her. Still do.”

“I know.”

“I just...I miss Shiro,” he sniffled, avoiding eye contact. “I don’t know how to do any of this without him.”

“We’ll find him,” Lance said without any hesitation. “I promise.”

* * *

When the others found them in the morning, they were fast asleep, leaning against Red’s foot. It was  _ totally _ innocent - the only body parts touching were Lance’s knee bent against Keith’s thigh - but Lance still felt a prickling sense of embarrassment about being caught in such a position. He didn’t understand why though. It wasn’t like he hadn’t fallen asleep with his head in Hunk’s lap, like,  _ a dozen times _ before.

“Uh.” Pidge cleared her throat loudly. “Good morning?”

It was at that moment that Keith startled awake, hand automatically reaching behind his back to grab his blade. 

“Whoa, easy there, samurai,” Lance said as the red paladin blinked the sleep from his eyes and realized where he was and who had interrupted his sleep.

Keith let out a shaky breath, removed the hand from the blade, and placed it over his chest. “Jeez.” Then he looked over to Lance. “When did we fall asleep?”

“The better question is, why were you two out after curfew at all?” Allura asked disapprovingly, and Lance knew she came off as more mature and dignified and  _ princess-like _ than the rest of the paladins. But it’s not like they were  _ children _ in comparison, and he didn’t appreciate being treated as such.

Surprisingly though, it was Keith who responded first. “These are our lions. We have every right to be here, same as you.”

Allura’s nostrils flared, and sensing the impending argument, Hunk held his hands out in a placating gesture. “I’m sure they have a reasonable explanation, don’t you? Keith? Lance?”

Lance sprung up as quick as his wobbly legs could manage. “The Red lion has a new paladin now!” And in case they weren’t getting the message, he clarified, “It’s me. I’m her new paladin.”

Four mouths fell open at once, and Lance would have laughed at the sight if he wasn’t also concerned about their actual response. 

“What brought this on?” Allura asked, her eyebrows pinched in confusion, just as Pidge interjected, “No quiznaking way.” Coran harmonized both of these sentiments with a long, disappointed whine.

Lance looked over at Keith and found Keith looking back at him. This wasn’t how he’d hoped things would go. His pointer finger shot out like gun, blame substituting bullets. “Keith asked me to.”

“Yeah, and you  _ accepted _ . Don’t put this all on me!”

“Did I miss a meeting where we decided that Lance was going to try to pilot Red?” Hunk questioned nervously. “Because I’m feeling a little out of the loop.”

“It’s not just you, Hunk,” said Allura. She lifted a finger to her lips and closed her eyes. “What I would like to know is when and how this decision was reached.”

“Why does it matter  _ how _ it happened?” groused Lance. “Red likes me and thinks I’m  _ brave _ . She has good taste, what can I say?”

“Brave? You?” Pidge chuckled, and Lance stuck his tongue out at her. “Besides, this doesn’t fix the problem. We’re still one paladin short of a full set. What about the Blue lion?”

“Allura,” Keith said, as if that simple an answer would suffice. 

With inner musings interrupted, the aforementioned princess opened her eyes in alarm. “ _ Me _ ?”

“You know,” the green paladin deadpanned, “Just because you’re the leader now,  _ Keith _ , doesn’t mean you get to make all kinds of choices without consulting the rest of the team. This isn’t a dictatorship.”

“Or any kind of autocracy,” Hunk said, putting himself on the receiving end of a glare from Pidge. “Just to cover all of our bases.”

“Fine,” Pidge agreed. “While we’re at it, it’s not a diarchy either.”

The way her gaze pinned the two boys standing near the Red lion made Lance uncomfortable. “What, me and  _ this guy _ ?” 

At his side, Keith took a deep breath through his nose followed by a measured exhale. “I didn’t mean for it to sound like a demand. Any one of you are welcome to try and pilot the Blue lion. And I...I’m sorry for not consulting the entire group about Red. It was a gut feeling, and I went with it. I didn’t want to put more pressure on Lance by sharing it with the whole group. Maybe that was selfish.”

Back on earth, as a child, Lance had spent a lot of time having the wind knocked out of him by strong waves, siblings’ limbs, and boogie boards. Keith expressing genuine concern for him, Lance decided, was a similar feeling.

“I,” Allura started, clutching at her skirts in determination and surprising them all, “would like to try.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for clarification's sake, that calming hand on Keith's shoulder was written before I watched vld s3. So basically, I'm a psychic.


End file.
